Any thoughts on a Delta DC 580 20 inch planer?

[Scott Braun]

So I'm in the market for a larger planer (I have a Delta benchtop now). I've a small sawmill and a bigger unit would be great.
A guy has this for sale 5hp, single phase and the second owner, says it all works good , and has an extra set of blades and a mobile base for $1300.. about 3-4 hours from me. Price is a stretch for me but it sounds like a good unit.

[Bruce Page]

I used one at the Kirkland AFB wood shop years ago. It was a stout machine. If it's in the condition he says it is $1300 sounds like a good deal, IMO.

[Matt Day]

Sounds like a good deal to me.

[Bruce Wrenn]

15" (Delta DC-380's) are going for that price now.

[Mike Kees]

I really want one. Mike.

[Scott Braun]

I used one at the Kirkland AFB wood shop years ago. It was a stout machine. If it's in the condition he says it is $1300 sounds like a good deal, IMO.

Anything in particular I need to look out for?

[Scott Braun]

I really want one. Mike.

This particular unit? Why?

[Bruce Page]

Anything in particular I need to look out for?

I'm not that familiar with the machine's particular's other than using it several times. I would make sure it feeds well and check it for snipe, as well as the general condition - looks well maintained or used and abused. Things like belts & blades can be replaced easy enough.

[Mike Heidrick]

I own one. Phenomenal. Segmented infeed, dual bed rollers, chip breaker, and urethane rear pressure roller. Sweet machine. Massive table is nice. 6" dust collection port is standard on hood.

[Scott Braun]

I own one. Phenomenal. Segmented infeed, dual bed rollers, chip breaker, and urethane rear pressure roller. Sweet machine. Massive table is nice. 6" dust collection port is standard on hood.

Then I'll ask you. Anything I need to keep an eye out for when I inspect it?

Will my 4" chip collector keep up?

[Mike Kees]

Bigger ,heavier and more industrial than my DC-380. I would also be happy with anything made in Italy or one of the Invicta planers.

[Mike Heidrick]

Id run the tables up and down and run it
Mine spins right up. If you can power it should be nice. Ive never had an issue with mine since new so don't really know what you would have issues with. I have only had mine on a 5hp cyclone and now a 10hp cyclone so I cant answer if you chip collector will work. Guessing biggest drawback there will be how fast you fill it. . If you have dreams of adding a byrd to it Brian will pretty much want the head sent in as there have been a few diff dc580s and byrd does not have an easy to buy and install option. That also means prob no deals to be had from folks like griz etc. I have not ever needed one though. Also you need to plan the planing so you are not doing micro fine passes as the infeed roller will leave marks if the pass is not deep enough. It dwarfs the regular 20" four post planers from pm and jet and the like.

[Dave Cav]

I ran one in my high school wood shop for about seven years. It had been there for five or six years when I got there, and as far as I know it's still there, six years after I left. It's a stout, relatively simple machine. I would run the table up and down to make sure it travels smoothly, and try to operate it at both the high and low feed speeds. Run some boards through it, make sure it feeds and cuts smoothly. If you buy it, make sure you get the knife setting gauge; it will save you a lot of time and frustration when changing knives. I always kept two or three sets of spare knives on hand, and generally changed knives two or three times a year. This was in a high school shop where we ran nearly 100% hardwood, and when we were really going with the program it would run hard six hours a day. We made a LOT of cutting boards with it. The only problem I can remember having with the machine was occasionally the motor starter would get sawdust in it and wouldn't work until it was blown out.

I did get a Byrd head for our machine. As I recall, it wasn't a particularly big deal getting it from Byrd, but it did take a while for it to arrive. Installation with new bearings was relatively straightforward and took two of us several hours as I recall. It made a big difference it the noise level and reduced knife maintenance considerably because I was always having to shift knives due to nicks.

I doubt if your 4" chip collector will be able to keep up if you do a lot of work. With narrow stock and small cuts, maybe, but it's a big machine and needs a lot of air going through it. We had a big old central D/C system with either a 7.5 or 10 HP motor and the kids used to plug it up all the time, but our system wasn't in the greatest of shape and it was replaced shortly after I left.

[Scott Braun]

Id run the tables up and down and run it
Mine spins right up. If you can power it should be nice. Ive never had an issue with mine since new so don't really know what you would have issues with. I have only had mine on a 5hp cyclone and now a 10hp cyclone so I cant answer if you chip collector will work. Guessing biggest drawback there will be how fast you fill it. . If you have dreams of adding a byrd to it Brian will pretty much want the head sent in as there have been a few diff dc580s and byrd does not have an easy to buy and install option. That also means prob no deals to be had from folks like griz etc. I have not ever needed one though. Also you need to plan the planing so you are not doing micro fine passes as the infeed roller will leave marks if the pass is not deep enough. It dwarfs the regular 20" four post planers from pm and jet and the like.

Thanks, He said we could run it. I wouldn't even consider it if we couldn't. I'm going to take some of my lumber up to try on it if I go look at it. Mine is only a 2hp 220v Shop Fox collector so a bigger one of those might be in my future also, I can always run it at the end of my shop with the door open and blow it outside I guess. ;-)
I do have a Delta bench finish planer I can use for finer stuff if its not too wide. Probably not in the need of a helical head so I'm not concerned about that, for now anyway.

Thanks for the advice.

[Scott Braun]

I ran one in my high school wood shop for about seven years. It had been there for five or six years when I got there, and as far as I know it's still there, six years after I left. It's a stout, relatively simple machine. I would run the table up and down to make sure it travels smoothly, and try to operate it at both the high and low feed speeds. Run some boards through it, make sure it feeds and cuts smoothly. If you buy it, make sure you get the knife setting gauge; it will save you a lot of time and frustration when changing knives. I always kept two or three sets of spare knives on hand, and generally changed knives two or three times a year. This was in a high school shop where we ran nearly 100% hardwood, and when we were really going with the program it would run hard six hours a day. We made a LOT of cutting boards with it. The only problem I can remember having with the machine was occasionally the motor starter would get sawdust in it and wouldn't work until it was blown out.

I did get a Byrd head for our machine. As I recall, it wasn't a particularly big deal getting it from Byrd, but it did take a while for it to arrive. Installation with new bearings was relatively straightforward and took two of us several hours as I recall. It made a big difference it the noise level and reduced knife maintenance considerably because I was always having to shift knives due to nicks.

I doubt if your 4" chip collector will be able to keep up if you do a lot of work. With narrow stock and small cuts, maybe, but it's a big machine and needs a lot of air going through it. We had a big old central D/C system with either a 7.5 or 10 HP motor and the kids used to plug it up all the time, but our system wasn't in the greatest of shape and it was replaced shortly after I left.

Thanks, this is just for my one (old) man shop, I'm retired and just build stuff for me, but I'm tired of when I need to plane some of my rough cut lumber I have to do it 1/64th or 1/32nd at a time.. takes for freaking ever!!! So hence the shopping for a stouter machine. A Jet or Grizzly 15 incher would probably suffice, but if I mill up a larger slab this would come in handy. 20 inches is about all my sawmill will do, and all I want to mess with as far as log size is concerned so I'm thinking this is a good step up.

And thanks for the thoughts.